Jury Returns Verdict Of $627,000 In Stanislaus County

On April 22, 2014, Joshua Esteves was stopped at a red light in Modesto. He and his wife and two sons were enjoying spring break together. While stopped, Mr. Esteves was rear-ended by a 30-ton cement truck owned and operated by Allied Concrete Company. The impact was significant knocking Mr. Esteves' vehicle across the intersection. Mr. Esteves did not complain about any injuries at the scene and hoped that he would be fine and would not require medical care. However, after traveling down to Alcatraz with his family three days later, he realized that his neck, back and left knee were injured and he would need medical care. He initially treated with a chiropractor and then went to the emergency room five days after the collision with neck, back and knee pain (his knee struck the dash).

Over time, Mr. Esteves' injuries continued to worsen. He underwent lumbar facet injections that isolated and identified his lumbar facets as the cause of his low back pain. A radio frequency facet procedure was then carried out on his low back which provided him with months of improvement. He also underwent a left knee arthroscopy which improved his symptoms as well.

Defendants refused to admit liability for this rear-end collision until seven days before trial. They further argued that the low back injury was not related to the collision because Mr. Esteves had a "long history" of low back complaints resulting from his work as an appliance repairman for Sears. They also argued that the left knee surgery was related to his "lifestyle" and his employment in the appliance repair business. Defendant Allied treated it as a "soft tissue" case and offered $300,000 prior to trial.

The trial took place over three weeks in Modesto. The jury rejected Defendants' arguments and returned a verdict for Mr. Esteves in the amount of $627,000, more than double the insurance carrier's offer.

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